Gone Forever?
by CeruleanPlatypi
Summary: This is basically  page 203-227 in The Battle of the Labyrinth. But from Annabeth's point of view. It's really dramatic, and this is my first fanfic, so  I welcome constructive critisism. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

I nodded. "We have to get out of here!" No sooner had I said that than the door burst open and young telekhines were spilling out. They were staggering a little, trying to figure out where to charge.

"Put your cap on!" Percy said, "Get out!"

"What? No!" I shrieked. "I'm not leaving you!"

"I've got a plan. I'll distract them. You can use the metal spider- maybe it'll lead you back to Hephaestus. You have to let him know what's going on!"

I looked him straight in the eyes, determined. "You'll be killed."

"I'll be fine. Besides, we've got no choice."

I glared at him, crazy ideas swirling just behind my eyes. I discarded them one by one, half-knowing it would only come down to one thing. Percy was looking determined, and I knew nothing could shake his resolve. Well, here goes. I made a flash decision and kissed him, savoring the shocked look on his face.

"Be careful, Seaweed Brain." I pulled on my hat and vanished, already running. I sprinted to the entrance and glanced back. Percy was surrounded. I wanted to go back, but I knew I couldn't distract him. I needed to go.

I ran as fast as I could as long as I could, then stopped to get the spider. I was gingerly taking it out of my pocket when a scream echoed down the tunnel, making me freeze. Percy.

I hesitated, then turned and began to run back down the tunnel when there was another terrible scream and a huge explosion. The force of it blasted me backward against a wall. I cracked my head on a rock and everything faded to black.

When I woke up, my head was throbbing and I wasn't sure what had happened. Then it all came back to me. The kiss, the screams, the explosion.

Percy was nowhere to be seen, and I think I knew deep down that he was gone, but I couldn't help but hope. I went back down the tunnel to the volcano, and stopped in my tracks. There was a huge smoking hole where the volcano had been.

I sat down hard, staring at the smoke rising from the hole. No. He couldn't be dead. He was Percy, and Percy was too….well… brave, and smart, and…. too Percy to be dead! I wouldn't accept it. I needed to go back to camp. That was the most likely place where he would turn up, alive or… dead.

Holding onto that faint hope, I took the spider out of my pocket and set it down. It unrolled and started to scuttle along. I stumbled forward after it in a sort of daze, Percy's scream echoing in my head. I felt like his being …. gone was my entire fault. I shouldn't have left him alone. I should have fought beside him.

After awhile I reached Hephaestus' workshop. Hephaestus was watching an Iris message, and I saw a picture of Mt. St. Helens with smoke billowing out of it. He turned around when I came in, a grim look in his face.

"What happened? Where's the other demigod?"

I swallowed past the humongous lump in my throat and croaked, "Percy…. is gone. He was in the explosion."

Hephaestus' eyebrows rose and he said, "How did that happen?"

So I told him everything. Well, almost everything. I left out the kissing part. That was private. When I got to the screams, I felt like the lump in my throat was the size of a beach ball, and I couldn't say anything else.

Hephaestus looked slightly sympathetic, and then said, "I'm sorry. I doubt your friend could have survived that. He might have even caused it."

I stared at him, and he went on. "He was the Son of Poseidon, correct? They probably exposed him to an intense amount of heat, and he used his powers to prevent himself from burning up. Perhaps unconsciously."

Then Hephaestus got a strange look on his face and said, "Actually, there is one way he could have survived."

My heart leapt into my throat and I cried, "How?"

"Well, you are the daughter of Athena, so will know what happens when lava and tons of water are combined. A geyser is created. So it is possible that he shot up into the air, and if he hit water, he could have been healed by the sea. If so, he would probably return to your demigod camp."

Hope began to spread through my body, and I felt like I had woken up from a long nap. "Can you get me to camp? I don't know if I could make it through the Labyrinth."

Hephaestus smiled. "That, I can do. Just follow the spider again. One moment, I just need to reprogram it."

I stood by, slightly dazed, while he tinkered with the spider. Now that there was a chance that Percy was alive, I felt like an invisible magnetic force was urging me to go back to camp. To find out for sure.

After a few minutes, Hephaestus handed me the spider and said, "Good luck finding your friend. He is your key to finding Daedalus."

I stared at him. "That's what Hera said. What does it mean? Percy said he has no clue where Daedalus is."

Hephaestus didn't say anything, just turned around and started to work on something.

I set down the spider and we set off. After about an hour of walking, we reached the entrance to camp. I pressed Daedalus' sign and climbed out into the night, took a deep breath, then set out towards camp.

**There will be more! Please review, good or bad!**


	2. Chapter 2

When I reached the edge of the forest, I started towards Cabin 3. Even though it was highly unlikely that Percy would be back already, I had to check.

I opened the door and looked inside. The cabin was empty and the room was so tidy from Tyson's last cleaning, that it seemed to almost shout, "Percy is NOT here, or else I would NOT look like this." The smell of the sea in the room reminded me of Percy so much, I could almost imagine him being beside me. But he wasn't, of course, because he was….

Lost. I had to keep believing that. He couldn't be dead, so he was lost. But then the scream seemed to echo inside my head, accompanied by a small logical voice, saying, "Even if Hephaestus was right, the heat of the geyser might have killed him anyway. His affinity to the sea couldn't cure him if he was already dead."

I told the little voice to shut up and backed out of the room, closing the door. I jogged over to the Big House and knocked on the door. After a few minutes it was answered by Chiron, his top half dressed in a plaid bathrobe.

"Annabeth, you're back! What happened? Where's Percy?"

I looked up into his concerned face and said, "It'll take awhile to explain. Percy's…. gone." Chiron's eyes widened, and I hastily added, "Not dead. Well, I hope not. Can we sit down so I can explain?"

"Of course, my dear, come in!"

We went into the living room, and I sat down wearily on the couch. Chiron looked at me expectantly, so I explained what had happened, leaving out the kiss. Just like at Hephaestus' workshop, my throat closed up when I got to the part when I heard the scream, so I just said, "And then there was a huge explosion and everything was gone. Even… Percy."

All the sadness and panic of the past day seemed to suddenly crash down on me and I broke down sobbing. Chiron looked slightly surprised, and I realized that he had never seen me so shaken up before.

"I'm sorry. It's just, well, I don't know, he always gets hurt and then finds away out of it. He's never actually died before!" After a few moments I realized how stupid that sounded, but I couldn't stop crying. Chiron watched me patiently for a few minutes until my sobbing turned into occasional watery hiccups.

"I'm sorry about Percy. There is still a chance that he survive, and we need to hold on to that hope for as long as possible. We will wait two weeks. If he hasn't come back yet by then, we'll have to accept that he never will."

I nodded and stifled a yawn. I was exhausted, and Chiron knew it, so he said, "Go to your cabin. We will talk more in the morning."

I nodded and left. When I got to the Athena cabin I slowly opened the door and crept in. All of the other occupants of the cabin were all asleep so I crept across the room and slipped into my bed.


	3. Chapter 3

I was woken up by the sound of whispering and muttering. When I opened my eyes, I saw a dozen curious faces looking at me, but when they saw that I was awake they all got quiet and just stared. When I sat up, my half-brother Malcolm said. "Hi Annabeth. We're glad to see you. What happened in the Labyrinth?

I sighed. "Well, you'll hear about it later, but right now, I'm going to the dining, I'm starving. All of my siblings backed off, and I glared at them until they left the cabin. Sometimes it was nice to be in charge. I changed into some jeans and my Camp Half-Blood shirt and then left the cabin. I didn't see anybody, so I guessed they were all eating breakfast.

I walked up to the pavilion and over to the Athena table. All the heads in the pavilion turned my way, but I ignored them and sat down next to Malcolm. I ate in silence, and after awhile I noticed that some were glancing occasionally towards the cabins. I wondered why until I heard someone whisper, "Where is he?", and a few seconds later, "Do you think he's …. Dead?"

I glared in the whisperer's direction and then got up and walked over to the head table. I walked up to Chiron and whispered, "We have to tell them something. They're all staring at me! It's unnerving. I think I'm getting a taste of what it's like to be Percy. People were always staring at him for some reason or another…" My voice trailed off as I thought about Percy.

Chiron smiled grimly. "Yes, I noticed that you were getting some attention. You are right, we should inform them of Percy's disappearance and maybe warn them that we will need to set up morning, afternoon, and night patrols throughout the camp. I fear that Luke will not wait much longer to attack. He may have already found Daedalus."

"Should you tell them, or should I?" Chiron considered this for a moment and then said, "I think it would be better coming from you."

"Now?"

"Yes. I will get their attention." He cleared his throat and said loudly, "Excuse me for interrupting your meal, but Annabeth wishes to say something."

I looked around and saw that this was unnecessary, as everyone was already looking at us curiously. I nervously cleared my throat and said, "Well, first of all, all of you have apparently noticed that Percy is….absent. On our quest, he was separated from me, and we are not really sure where he is, and we aren't sure if he….. will come back at all."

I could feel my eyes filling with tears, and I started to blink rapidly, forcing them back. "Chiron says we will wait two weeks, but after that we will have to accept that he is… dead." My voice cracked on the last word, and one of the tears started to slide down my face, but I quickly wiped it away. I could see many concerned faces in the crowd, and I knew why. Percy was a popular figure in camp. His cheerful, funny attitude made everyone feel included and good about themselves. I sniffled and told myself to stop thinking about him.

"Chiron also wanted me to tell you that we will need to set up patrols in every part of the camp throughout the whole day. The attack will be soon, and we need to be ready."

I looked at Chiron, and he nodded, telling me that that was all. Everyone was still staring at me with sympathy and a little surprise. I felt my face start to redden, realizing how the tear must have been noticed by pretty much everyone, and it showed just how much I cared about Percy.


	4. Chapter 4

The next two weeks went by quickly, but also slowly at times. Whenever I passed by the Poseidon cabin I felt a sharp pang of sadness, remembering Percy's face the last time I saw him, surrounded by telekhines. Every time a voice in my head said, "You should have stayed. Then maybe he would be here."

Every mealtime I was painfully aware of the emptiness of the Poseidon table. Everyone was treating me like fragile glass about to break, which I guess was a good thing, because I felt like if someone mentioned Percy I think I would have shattered.

Finally, the two weeks came and went. The morning after they had gone by, Chiron trotted up to me. "Annabeth, it's been two weeks. A shroud has been made, and I think you should burn it, because you knew him best of anyone here."

I stared at him for a few moments, preparing myself. I don't think I could have cried again, so I numbly followed Chiron up the hill to the amphitheater. When we got there, I realized that the whole camp was already there.

I went to the stage, and someone handed me a shroud. It was sea green, embroidered with a silver trident. Seeing it almost made me break down with tears I didn't think I had, but I looked up at Chiron as he cleared his throat.

"We all must honor Perseus Jackson. His brave actions have saved the camp, indeed the whole world, many a time. After two weeks of unexplained absence, we must assume he is dead. I have asked his best remaining friend to do the final honors."

Trembling, I lifted the shroud and put it on the flames. I turned to the crowd and managed to say, "He was probably the bravest friend I ever had. He…" I stopped dead.

He was there, leaning against a pillar at the back of the amphitheater. He looked as if he had lost half his weight, and his face was a shade paler than normal, but he was there. Alive.

"He's right there!" I cried.

**The End. Well, not really, but you know what I mean. **


End file.
